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The May/June 2017 issue of Vintage Truck magazine will be available in subscriber mailboxes and on newsstands soon. On our cover is a 1958 Dodge D100 Sweptside. As amazing as it is to find a rare and highly sought-after collector truck, it is even more amazing when someone walks up and offers to sell you one. That is just what happened to 4X4 collector Marc Minarik when he was enjoying the 2012 Muscle Cars at the Strip show (formerly Mopars at the Strip) in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event is a fabulous car show put on by Phil Painter, and it is where Minarik was approached by Scott Zimmerman with just such an offer.

The Sweptside debuted in 1957 as a means for Dodge to compete with the popular Chevrolet Cameo and the Ford Ranchero. Built on a Dodge half-ton platform, the D100 Sweptside was not a production vehicle that rolled off the assembly line. It was constructed by Dodge’s Special Equipment Group, a unique division tasked with creating and modifying vehicles to meet specific customer needs. Joe Berr was the manager of the SEG, and he is credited with designing the Sweptside.

Restoring the truck was a challenging step. Minarik explained that Sweptside trucks are extremely difficult to restore, particularly because of the fitment of station wagon fenders to a pickup box. Additionally, every option on a truck must be rebuilt or replaced, and Minarik’s Sweptside has a lot of options, so the project was costlier.

To do the restoration, Minarik turned to Ron Reichhart of Indiana Truck Restoration in New Haven, Indiana. He knew that, as “an absolute Power Giant master,” Reichhart could handle sourcing parts for the truck and do any necessary fabrication.

To read more about this restored 1958 Dodge D100 Sweptside, pick up a copy of the May/June 2017 issue of Vintage Truck.